Summer Polaroids - The Swimming Hole

Photos from our trip up north - I didn't take any of them, but I did put them through the polaroid machine, which is exciting every time! We stayed with my Aunty, Uncle, and cousins at their house in Ahipara, which is right at the bottom of 90-mile beach, and pretended to be country children for a week.

Swimsuit!

 

This just came in the mail as an early birthday present from my family. OH MY GOODNESS. It's beautiful.And also possibly the brightest thing I own. I want to crochet a matching one for one of my old barbies, then go out postering feminist and anti-corporation posters everywhere. Just to revel in the irony.

Holiday Time Fashions - Seaside Holidays

To the Seaside!
Ideally, you'll need two swimsuits - one for swimming and one for sun-bathing. Don't bother to take sun-oil with you, the kind you find abroad is excellent and cheap.

Also, take a look at this old post about retro swimsuits.

Take a four-piece beach set :

Remember that most continental resorts object to tourists wandering about their streets in brief swimsuits, so take some sort of beach wrap or shift dress to slip over your swimsuit from hotel to beach.

Buy a sun-hat when you're there - they're much prettier on the continent.

You probably won't find it necessary to wear evening dress for dinner in the evening, but you should change into a light dress, so pack two or three.  Everything dries very quickly in hot climates, so take two changes of cotton undies. Try to avoid taking stiff, frilly petticoats; they are very hot and prickly and take up far too much room.

 

Nobody seems to wear stockings on continental seaside holidays but I should take a pair just in case! One pair of sandals should be enough and you'll find that these are very cheap abroad. Take a pair of little flat pumps or court shoes to wear with dresses.

 Try to avoid wearing cardigans in the evenings - they stamp you as an English tourist right away! If you do feel chilly, throw your cardigan around your shoulders or get a stole to match your dress

And to truly complete your beach wardrobe, how to make a poncho and beach bag (from 'Smart Girl' 1964) :

Surf Life Saving New Zealand

 
Life-saving drill, probably on unidentified Taranaki beach

Photographed circa 1920s-1930s, by John R Wall of Stratford. Location unidentified, probably a Taranaki beach.

These photos and their captions are all from the National Library of New Zealand on Flickr (my comments are below in italics, though). Weren't the surf lifesavers fine!

 

Dominion life-saving championships, Lyall Bay, Wellington. 1950

A women's team carrying equipment at the Dominion lifesaving championships at Lyall Bay, Wellington.
I'm loving the blazer and short shorts combo of that judge. Very dapper. 



Dominion lifesaving championships, Lyall Bay, Wellington. 1950

A team is being inspected at the Dominion lifesaving championships at Lyall Bay in Wellington

Dominion lifesaving championships, Lyall Bay, Wellington. 1950

Two men paddle in on surfboards at the Dominion lifesaving championships at Lyall Bay in Wellington

A cup winning lifesaving team with their coach. 1911

Shows a cup winning team with their coach, 1911, probably in the Christchurch area.

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things: of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings." Their couch is that walrus.

 
Group of girls practicing a life-saving technique. ca 1910s

An unidentified group of girls practising life-saving. They are standing in two rows in pairs (facing each other) outdoors on a grassy area in front of a wooden building. The life-saving instructor is standing on the right. All are dressed in bathing suits, some with bathing caps. 

I think this might be my favourite picture of the whole bunch. I can't imagine what exactly they were practising when this photo was taken, but their bathing suits are fantastic.

Not a Peace Sign nor Trout Pout in Sight

Photos from here, here, here, here, and here

Delightful '50s Kodachromes

Now some very un-wintery photos. These are truly fantastic, the colours are amazing. From Elliot-B.

Family Fashion - '50s/'60s Texas

I love finding old family photosets that people put up on flickr - aren't these sweet? They're from late '50s/early '60s Texas. I especially love the swimsuits.
I can't remember the user they're from (oops), so if anyone knows please tell me!

Swimsuits, Oh Swimsuits

I am experiencing some serious swimsuit lust now that summer has hit us. I'm going away up north tomorrow which basically means I'll be at the beach all day for a week, defending my green and yelow floral  seventies one-piece from ignorant claims that it is a dress. Not even in the seventies did hemlines go that short, honey. My best friend is coming away with us (us being my family) and bringing her amazing rockabilly style swimsuit with her. I am extremely jealous. It was in the summer fashion quarterly and I'd been pouring over it for some time when she suddenly popped up in it, completely unaware of her swimsuits fame. In saying that, up until about a month ago she thought that you pronounced diplodocus as dipl-i-docis . So what can you expect.  Anyway, here are some of the fruits of my swimsuit lust.